Miller: Mr. Hamlin appreciated shadowy tales

The arrival of autumn and the Halloween season is one of those times each year when I miss longtime colleague Brian Hamlin.

For decades, kindly ol' Mr. Hamlin would pull out his most poisonous plume and pen the introduction to a tale of terror that The Reporter would then ask its readers to complete.

The annual ritual ended when Brian moved to the court beat, though a few attempts were made to resurrect it.

Then we lost Brian to cancer last year, and we mourned (and still do mourn) the loss of such creativity and truly spectacular writing.

We couldn't just forget it all and relegate it to the past, however. So, last year, I pulled out my own batty ballpoint and wrote an appropriately spooky story introduction and asked readers to pen their own endings.

Of course, I hold no candle to the creative curmudgeon himself, but the revival of The Reporter's Halloween Scary Story competition didn't turn out too badly, and we were all pleased with the number of entries that came in. So much so, in fact, that we decided to do it again this year.

This year's scary story is set in familiar territory for Solano (or as Brian would call them, S'lano) residents: Lake Berryessa. It is there that our heroine, 14-year-old Crystal Wilson, finds herself in the middle of a mess known as the "Depths of Despair."

The full introduction can be found on the front page of Perspectives today, and we will run it periodically in advertisements during the next few weeks.

Suffice it to say, I am expecting to see some creative ideas for what happens to the star of this little tale of terror.

As with past contests, entries must be 600 words or less and e-mailed to me at RMiller@TheReporter.com. No handwritten or typed, hard-copy entries will be accepted this year.

We'll read through the submissions and choose the one we judge best.

The winner will receive four movie passes to Brenden Theatres. The runner-up will receive two movie passes.

But we have added something new as well this year. When we received several entries from children last year, we decided to add a prize for our junior writers.

So this year, entries from youths age 12 and under will be welcomed and the best will receive two movie passes. Again, they must be sent by e-mail.

Deadline for entries is 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17. Only one entry per family will be accepted. The winners will be notified by Monday, Oct. 22, and must be available for a photograph and interview at that time.

The winning story will be published in the Perspectives section of The Reporter just before Halloween, on Sunday, Oct. 28.